[BostonCard]

Sugar (semifinal): Alabama (1) - Ohio State (4)
Rose (semifinal): Oregon (2) - Florida State (3)
Cotton: Baylor (5) - Michigan State (8)
Peach: TCU (6) - Ole Miss (9)
Orange: Mississippi State (7) - Georgia Tech (12)
Fiesta: Arizona (10) - Boise State (20)

Note #11 Kansas State gets hosed, because the Orange is contracted to take the highest ranked ACC team when it is not part of the playoffs.  I think the Rose (Pac-12, B1G) and Sugar (SEC) will have the same situation when they are not part of the playoffs, so in those years, if the Pac-12 gets a team in the playoffs, a second team should be guaranteed a New Year's bowl.

BC

[BostonCard]

Sugar (semifinal): Alabama (1) - Ohio State (4)
Rose (semifinal): Oregon (2) - Florida State (3)
Cotton: Baylor (5) - Michigan State (8)
Peach: TCU (6) - Ole Miss (9)
Orange: Mississippi State (7) - Georgia Tech (12)
Fiesta: Arizona (10) - Boise State (20)

Note #11 Kansas State gets hosed, because the Orange is contracted to take the highest ranked ACC team when it is not part of the playoffs.  I think the Rose (Pac-12, B1G) and Sugar (SEC) will have the same situation when they are not part of the playoffs, so in those years, if the Pac-12 gets a team in the playoffs, a second team should be guaranteed a New Year's bowl.

BC

[CrazedZooChimp]

I can't believe Ole Miss is ranked so high...

[CrazedZooChimp]

I can't believe Ole Miss is ranked so high...

[Leftcoast]

I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

[Leftcoast]

I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

[BostonCard]

They are 9-3 and have wins against Boise State, Alabama, and Mississippi State.  They have narrow losses to LSU (10-7), and Auburn (35-31) and a really bad loss against Arkansas (2-6 in the SEC).

Behind them are Arizona (10-3), Kansas State (9-3), and Georgia Tech (10-3).

Arizona of course just got the living crap beaten out of it by Oregon, though Oregon is good.  It also has losses to UCLA (17-7) and USC (28-26).  It has some nice wins: Oregon back in October, Utah, and ASU.  I think those resumes are comparable, though you could argue that the loss to Arkansas is worse than the loss to Oregon.

Kansas State has losses to Auburn (20-14), TCU (41-20), and Baylor (38-27).  None of them are bad, but its best win is probably against 8-4 Oklahoma, hardly a signature win.

Georgia Tech has losses to Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State.  While losses to Florida State and Duke are not bad, losing to UNC (6-6, 4-4 in the ACC) is pretty bad.  Their best wins are against Georgia and Clemson.

When you get down to that level 9 - 12, all teams will have some flaw, either a bad loss or lack of a signature win.  To be honest, I think the real question mark is Kansas State, which at 9-3 and lacking any win against a top-25 team, probably should be behind Georgia Tech; I think losing to North Carolina is more than balanced out by beating Georgia and Clemson, and playing Florida STate close in the ACC championship.  You can also argue that Arizona shouldn't be behind Mississippi State, since it (and Georgia Tech) are both functionally penalized for playing against really good teams in a conference championship.  But Ole Miss versus Arizona is a close call, and Kansas State vs. Georgia Tech is a close call.  At worst I would have made Ole Miss at 10 instead of 9, and it would not have made an iota of a difference on where they went bowling.

BC

[BostonCard]

They are 9-3 and have wins against Boise State, Alabama, and Mississippi State.  They have narrow losses to LSU (10-7), and Auburn (35-31) and a really bad loss against Arkansas (2-6 in the SEC).

Behind them are Arizona (10-3), Kansas State (9-3), and Georgia Tech (10-3).

Arizona of course just got the living crap beaten out of it by Oregon, though Oregon is good.  It also has losses to UCLA (17-7) and USC (28-26).  It has some nice wins: Oregon back in October, Utah, and ASU.  I think those resumes are comparable, though you could argue that the loss to Arkansas is worse than the loss to Oregon.

Kansas State has losses to Auburn (20-14), TCU (41-20), and Baylor (38-27).  None of them are bad, but its best win is probably against 8-4 Oklahoma, hardly a signature win.

Georgia Tech has losses to Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State.  While losses to Florida State and Duke are not bad, losing to UNC (6-6, 4-4 in the ACC) is pretty bad.  Their best wins are against Georgia and Clemson.

When you get down to that level 9 - 12, all teams will have some flaw, either a bad loss or lack of a signature win.  To be honest, I think the real question mark is Kansas State, which at 9-3 and lacking any win against a top-25 team, probably should be behind Georgia Tech; I think losing to North Carolina is more than balanced out by beating Georgia and Clemson, and playing Florida STate close in the ACC championship.  You can also argue that Arizona shouldn't be behind Mississippi State, since it (and Georgia Tech) are both functionally penalized for playing against really good teams in a conference championship.  But Ole Miss versus Arizona is a close call, and Kansas State vs. Georgia Tech is a close call.  At worst I would have made Ole Miss at 10 instead of 9, and it would not have made an iota of a difference on where they went bowling.

BC

[stupac2]

I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

Right, the Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked ACC team that's available. So when an ACC team goes to the playoff the Orange gets the #2. Every conference has at least one of those tie-ins.

[stupac2]

I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

Right, the Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked ACC team that's available. So when an ACC team goes to the playoff the Orange gets the #2. Every conference has at least one of those tie-ins.

[Spiny_Norman]

[quote author=leftcoast link=topic=11295.msg107700#msg107700 date=1417987778]I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

Right, the Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked ACC team that's available. So when an ACC team goes to the playoff the Orange gets the #2. Every conference has at least one of those tie-ins.
[/quote]

Similarly, the Rose Bowl gets the highest ranked Big 10 and Pac 12 teams in years in which it is not a semifinal game.  If that were the case this year, the Rose Bowl matchup would be Arizona and Michigan State.  Would have been Arizona's first ever Rose Bowl.

[Spiny_Norman]

[quote author=leftcoast link=topic=11295.msg107700#msg107700 date=1417987778]I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

Right, the Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked ACC team that's available. So when an ACC team goes to the playoff the Orange gets the #2. Every conference has at least one of those tie-ins.
[/quote]

Similarly, the Rose Bowl gets the highest ranked Big 10 and Pac 12 teams in years in which it is not a semifinal game.  If that were the case this year, the Rose Bowl matchup would be Arizona and Michigan State.  Would have been Arizona's first ever Rose Bowl.

[yvonne]

Bummer. I'd really like to see Arizona, Colorado, and Utah get to the Rose Bowl.  ;)

[yvonne]

Bummer. I'd really like to see Arizona, Colorado, and Utah get to the Rose Bowl.  ;)

[CrazedZooChimp]

Arizona of course just got the living crap beaten out of it by Oregon, though Oregon is good.  It also has losses to UCLA (17-7) and U$€ (28-26).  It has some nice wins: Oregon back in October, Utah, and ASU.  I think those resumes are comparable, though you could argue that the loss to Arkansas is worse than the loss to Oregon.

Kansas State has losses to Auburn (20-14), TCU (41-20), and Baylor (38-27).  None of them are bad, but its best win is probably against 8-4 Oklahoma, hardly a signature win.

How could you not argue that?  Based on the final rankings, UA lost to the #2 (in an extra game that Ole Miss didn't have to play because they were 3rd in their division...), #14, and #24.  Two losses were close, the loss to #2 was a blow out.  They have wins over #2, #15, and #22 (the win over #22 being a blowout.  Ole Miss has losses to #19, #22, and an unranked team that was last in their division.  Their first two losses were close, their loss to Arkansas was a blowout.  They were third in their division.  They have wins against #1, #7, and #20.  The win over #20 was a blowout, the other two were close (well, OK, close-ish in the MissSt. game).  Ole Miss has slightly better wins, but also has one fewer win because they played one less game.  I would say the losses to the middle ranked teams are basically equivalent, and getting blown out by the last place team is way way worse than being blown out by #2 in the conference championship.  I don't see how you can compare the records and put Ole Miss ahead of UA.  Would Arizona have been ahead of Ole Miss if they'd played in the North and been 10-2 instead of 10-3?  If so, then I don't see how they should be punished for playing a really good team in the conference championship...

I do realize it doesn't really matter, but it's the principle of the thing!  :)  I would actually consider Miss St. as probably worse than both UA and Ole Miss too, I don't like the idea of rewarding teams for not winning their division (or, alternately, punishing teams for playing in the division that doesn't have the best team in the conference).

[CrazedZooChimp]

Arizona of course just got the living crap beaten out of it by Oregon, though Oregon is good.  It also has losses to UCLA (17-7) and U$€ (28-26).  It has some nice wins: Oregon back in October, Utah, and ASU.  I think those resumes are comparable, though you could argue that the loss to Arkansas is worse than the loss to Oregon.

Kansas State has losses to Auburn (20-14), TCU (41-20), and Baylor (38-27).  None of them are bad, but its best win is probably against 8-4 Oklahoma, hardly a signature win.

How could you not argue that?  Based on the final rankings, UA lost to the #2 (in an extra game that Ole Miss didn't have to play because they were 3rd in their division...), #14, and #24.  Two losses were close, the loss to #2 was a blow out.  They have wins over #2, #15, and #22 (the win over #22 being a blowout.  Ole Miss has losses to #19, #22, and an unranked team that was last in their division.  Their first two losses were close, their loss to Arkansas was a blowout.  They were third in their division.  They have wins against #1, #7, and #20.  The win over #20 was a blowout, the other two were close (well, OK, close-ish in the MissSt. game).  Ole Miss has slightly better wins, but also has one fewer win because they played one less game.  I would say the losses to the middle ranked teams are basically equivalent, and getting blown out by the last place team is way way worse than being blown out by #2 in the conference championship.  I don't see how you can compare the records and put Ole Miss ahead of UA.  Would Arizona have been ahead of Ole Miss if they'd played in the North and been 10-2 instead of 10-3?  If so, then I don't see how they should be punished for playing a really good team in the conference championship...

I do realize it doesn't really matter, but it's the principle of the thing!  :)  I would actually consider Miss St. as probably worse than both UA and Ole Miss too, I don't like the idea of rewarding teams for not winning their division (or, alternately, punishing teams for playing in the division that doesn't have the best team in the conference).

[BostonCard]

[quote author=leftcoast link=topic=11295.msg107700#msg107700 date=1417987778]I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

Right, the Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked ACC team that's available. So when an ACC team goes to the playoff the Orange gets the #2. Every conference has at least one of those tie-ins.
[/quote]

Exactly.  Note that this year it mattered, because it meant that Georgia Tech, ranked #12 got in, while Kansas State, ranked #11 did not.  That being said, I don't view it as a big travesty, since I think Tech has a better resume than KState.

BC

[BostonCard]

[quote author=leftcoast link=topic=11295.msg107700#msg107700 date=1417987778]I don't understand your ACC point, Boston Card.  The highest ranked ACC team (Florida St at #3) IS in the playoff, correct?

Right, the Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked ACC team that's available. So when an ACC team goes to the playoff the Orange gets the #2. Every conference has at least one of those tie-ins.
[/quote]

Exactly.  Note that this year it mattered, because it meant that Georgia Tech, ranked #12 got in, while Kansas State, ranked #11 did not.  That being said, I don't view it as a big travesty, since I think Tech has a better resume than KState.

BC

[82 Card]

The PAC-12 bowl games are:

Las Vegas - No. 22 Utah vs. Colorado State
Sun - No. 15 Arizona State vs. Duke
Holiday - Nebraska vs. No. 24 USC
Foster Farms - Maryland vs. Stanford
Fiesta - No. 20 Boise State vs. No. 10 Arizona
Rose - No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State
Alamo - No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 14 UCLA
Cactus - Washington vs. Oklahoma State

Predictions?

[82 Card]

The PAC-12 bowl games are:

Las Vegas - No. 22 Utah vs. Colorado State
Sun - No. 15 Arizona State vs. Duke
Holiday - Nebraska vs. No. 24 USC
Foster Farms - Maryland vs. Stanford
Fiesta - No. 20 Boise State vs. No. 10 Arizona
Rose - No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State
Alamo - No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 14 UCLA
Cactus - Washington vs. Oklahoma State

Predictions?

[stupac2]

I think the PAC be favored in all but two of them (Washington and UCLA will be dogs, I think). So of course we'll all go 3-6 or something dumb. Predicting bowl games is hard.

[stupac2]

I think the PAC be favored in all but two of them (Washington and UCLA will be dogs, I think). So of course we'll all go 3-6 or something dumb. Predicting bowl games is hard.

[BostonCard]

I'll go with:
Utah over Colorado State
ASU over Duke
Nebraska over USC
Stanford over Maryland
Boise State over Arizona
Oregon over Florida State
UCLA over Kansas State
UW over Oklahoma

By the way, only odds for Arizona (-4) over BSU and Oregon (-8) over FSU are posted.

BC

[BostonCard]

I'll go with:
Utah over Colorado State
ASU over Duke
Nebraska over USC
Stanford over Maryland
Boise State over Arizona
Oregon over Florida State
UCLA over Kansas State
UW over Oklahoma

By the way, only odds for Arizona (-4) over BSU and Oregon (-8) over FSU are posted.

BC